WESST PRESS RELEASES

WESST is excited to announce Wells Fargo has become a one year $50,000 Expansion Partner for the WESST Technology Toolkit™. The WESST Technology Toolkit™ is a statewide program that helps New Mexico entrepreneurs learn about and incorporate technology tools that will move their business to the next level. Support from Wells Fargo will help expand the WESST Technology Toolkit™ into more communities statewide in New Mexico. The essential elements of the WESST Technology Toolkit™ are training workshops that teach technology tools and access to streamlined loans to help entrepreneurs purchase technology for their businesses.

“Wells Fargo is proud to support WESST and is committed to helping small business owners succeed in the 21st Century,” said Lisa Riley, Regional President for Wells Fargo’s New Mexico/Western Border Region. “This initiative will greatly benefit small business owners and their ability to market their products across different mediums.”

“Small businesses are the backbone of New Mexico’s economy and it’s critical we help them survive,” said Sharen Ramirez, Business Banking Manager at Wells Fargo and member of the WESST Board of Directors. “The Technology Toolkit will help small business owners succeed in a digital marketplace and help contribute to our state’s long term economic growth and prosperity.”

About Wells Fargo: In New Mexico, Wells Fargo is the largest bank by deposits and has nearly 1,700 team members working in 95 banking stores and 9 financial stores. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.5 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, and the Internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in more than 35 countries to support the bank’s customers who conduct business in the global economy. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. In 2012, the Company invested $315.8 million in grants to 19,500 nonprofits, and team members contributed more than 1.5 million volunteer hours around the country. For more information, please visit: www.wellsfargo.com/about/csr.

WESST, www.wesst.org, is a non-profit small business development organization with offices in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Farmington, Roswell and Las Cruces. The organization provides training, consulting and loans to entrepreneurs across New Mexico as well as business incubation services to members of the WESST Enterprise Center in Albuquerque. To learn more about WESST, please visit www.wesst.org or call 1.800.GoWESST